[Intro to Ganhwa Seon] 13. The Importance of Balshim

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3. The Importance of Balshim (awakening the aspiration for
enlightenment發心)

What is Balshim?

What is balshim, or awakening of mind? To what extent does it play a role
in investigating hwadu?

Balshimis an abbreviation of balborishim, which can be divided into bal (arousing), bori or
bodhi (enlightenment 菩提) and shim (the mind), meaning the mind (thought) of intention to achieve
enlightenment (發菩提心). Simply put, balshim is the aspiration for
enlightenment. The aspiration for truth, the aspiration for one’s true self and
sincere aspiration for liberation through a free, happy and peaceful life
without sufferings and afflictions. In other words, it is the aspiration for
discovering one’s true self, going beyond death and formlessness and living a
life without attachment.

With this aspiration for
enlightenment, we come to feel the resonating urge deep down to discover our
true self. It is because of the master within our mind who actually moves us
and prompts us to talk, say sweet words, cry and laugh. This master is always
filled with virtue, mercy, wisdom and courage, warmly embracing us all the
time. Therefore, we just end up having relentless urge to see this true master
of our mind. This is balshim. We can rightly investigate hwadu, when our
mind is fully occupied by sincere aspiration for enlightenment.

The beginning and end of
spiritual practice is this aspiration. Making up one’s mind to engage in
spiritual practice is not only self-optimism but also giving up the entire form
of oneself. At the very moment of realizing one’s true self in the principles
of universe, one comes to be convinced that the most universal and noble being
is oneself and to have sense of duty to clearly see (究明) one’s true self. In this
regard, balshim is about great self-optimism.
But at the same time, for self-optimism and self-awareness, we have to give up
lives as sentient beings so far by looking back on our daily lives. However, it
is not easy to put this “great give-up” into practice. That is why we need
once-in-a-lifetime great decision, which considers that we are not born in this
lifetime. This is called “one great death (大死一番), absolute resuscitation consequently (絶後蘇生)”.

This is in line with
enlightenment through concentration on hwadu. One great death is, in other words,
having great doubt by interrogating hwadu. Death here means the death of the
form of “self”. The entire sense of self melts away to death through single-minded
concentration on hwadu. That is indeed great death which shatters hwadu itself
with thorough doubt on hwadu. With this great death, enlightenment, or life of
the Buddha, is realized vividly. The great doubt and interrogation of hwadu, in
turn, continuously stimulates aspiration.

Balshim can
and should be available to anyone. Otherwise, the horizon of Buddhism as a
universal religion will remain closed. The moment when we decide to practice
for enlightenment and serve others is the time when our mind is awakened and we
become bodhisattva. At this very moment, we are reborn as true Buddhists. But this
moment of aspiration doesn’t come along that frequently. It is indeed very rare
and noble origination. So, often stories of the origination of aspiration are passed
down as inspiring and touching tales.

How Balshim Originates

Think of the Gautama Buddha.
The Buddha desperately and earnestly asked why human beings get old, sick, die
and end up disappearing as a fist of ashes, whether this vicious cycle could be
resolved and what the essence of all sufferings is. The Gautama Buddha was
devotedly committed to resolving these endless sufferings. The cycle of birth,
getting old, sick and death and the Buddha’s strong commitment to overcoming it
prompted the Buddha to renounce the secular life and attain enlightenment. In
addition to this, steadfast aspiration for salvation of sentient beings
suffering from endless pain made the Buddha’s mind awakened. These aspirations
guided the Buddha to take the path for enlightenment and salvation of all sentient
beings.

A number of Seon Masters took
the path toward Seon practice, while thoroughly sensing impermanence of life.
They chose to embark on a journey to great liberation to overcome impermanent
cycle of secular life.

It was the death of his mother
that awakened the aspiration for enlightenment of the Second Seon Master Jingak
Hyeshim (眞覺慧諶 1178-1234) of the Sangha Jewel temple Songgwangsa.
Similarly, Seon Master Naong (懶翁) and Seon Master Hamheo (涵虛), two of the three eminent Seon Masters in the late Goryeo period, made
up their mind to renounce the secular life after their friends died. Faced with
death, Seon Master Gyeongheo (鏡虛), who revitalized Seon
traditions of Korean Buddhism from the early 19th century to the early 20th
century, decided to become a Seon practitioner as well.

Death. Not as a kind of
abstract and vague notion but as everlasting separation with those who we had a
heart-to-heart talk up until yesterday. How many people will be able to be
indifferent and steadfast in the face of sudden cessation of life and complete
despair? On top of that, how many people will be able to calmly take the death
of oneself?

The value of everything that
we cherish is just overshadowed by death. All we have become meaningless.
Wealth, fame, knowledge and exceptional skills are just drawn into the realm of
impermanence all of a sudden.

Even one’s beloved children,
grateful parents, closest friends, mountains, rivers and secular desires such
as wealth, success, fame and intelligence end up disappearing into swirl of
impermanence. Everything inevitably loses its value in the end. What should we
do then?

Life is full of absurdity and
contradiction. Good and evil are mixed up, so making clear assessment and
decision is very difficult. Judgment changes according to one’s own values and
views without firm belief. Due to wishy-washy stance and thinking and judgment
which can’t be perfect, people end up being overly anxious after making a
decision on crucial matters. What if things just change and become hostile
against us after choosing a certain value based on our position on political
issues? Is this a plausible scenario only for politicians? As a matter of fact,
this can happen to anyone because no one is immune to power struggle wherever
he or she is.

Then, what to do when we are
challenged by absurdity of life and limitation? Is there any way to survive and
overcome inevitable impermanence and limitation of life? Actually, there is.
The only path to rise above impermanence, limitation, pain and absurdity of
life is finding one’s true self. With one’s genuine self, one can be liberated
from everything. Investigating hwadu can never be more timely and effective
when one is faced with impermanence and absurdity of life and thereby
desperately feel the limitation of oneself and strong aspiration to find one’s
true self from the bottom of one’s heart.

On top of the commitment to
going beyond impermanence and absurdity, another essential factor in arousing balshim is actual practice. We vaguely
understand what Dharma talks or sutras mean, but there is still unresolved
doubt in our mind. Then, all of a sudden, we come to listen to what our mind
says to us, “I truly want to confirm my true self with my own life and my own
body.” This is how we awaken our aspiration for enlightenment.

These days, recorded Dharma
talks by eminent Seon Masters are easily accessible. As long as your time and
circumstances allow, listening to them frequently can naturally lead to
awakening of mind.

Cases in Point of Balshim

Becoming a disciple of
Prajnatara, also known as Keyura, Bodhidharma could learn the true meaning of “emptiness”
that transcends attachment to life and universe. Prajnatara literally means
perfecting the Sutra on Perfect Wisdom. Prajnatara’s teachings prompted
Bodhidharma to make a vow with strong commitment that he would actually put
what he learned into practice. This sincere aspiration for enlightenment of
mind led a number of Masters who solely concentrated on doctrines and
principles to the path toward Seon practice.

Seon Master Deshan Xuanjian (德山宣鑑 780-865), well known for his “blows
(bang)”, was a renowned scholar who perfected the Diamond Sutra. Deshan had great pride in his knowledge of the
Sutra and even called himself “Diamond Ju (周金剛)”, combining the Diamond Sutra’s “Diamond” and his
secular family name “Ju”. One afternoon, Master Deshan bumped into an elderly
woman who made him speechless. The woman asked,

“According to the Diamond Sutra, neither the mind of
the past, the mind of the present, nor the mind of the future can be acquired.
Now it’s time for lunch[1], so, which mind are you going
to point?”

Caught speechless and
dumbfounded, all the Master could say was just “Hmm...” Despite so much
analysis and calculation in his head, he could answer nothing. With the elderly’s
reference, Deshan came to visit Seon Master Longtan Chongxin (龍潭崇信 782-865). It was a moonless,
pitch-black night. Deshan was just standing in Master Longtan’s room. Master
Longtan said that it’s too late and Deshan should go home, giving Deshan a
candle. At the very moment when Deshan was about to excuse himself holding the
candle, Master Longtan blew out the candle. With this, Deshan just attained
enlightenment. He, then, brought all his books on the Diamond Sutra in front a Buddha Hall and burned them down. It
was because even a single piece of knowledge that he learned from sutras and
books could not serve him at all when he was asked a sharp question in the
darkness of Master Longtan’s room.

Fenzhou Wuye (汾洲無業 760-821) visited Seon Master Mazu Daoyi and asked, “As far as doctrines are
concerned, I studied most of the principles. However, having heard that mind is
Buddha (卽心是佛) of the teachings of Seon, I
still don’t know what it actually means.”

Mind is Buddha and we are all
already Buddha. This is what we hear and learn through sutras and Dharma talks
of Seon Masters. However, there is no tangible way to confirm the truth and it
is not easy to have steadfast belief in the true meaning of the teachings. All
of a sudden, however, the sincere question of “Why?” comes along. That is how
Master Fenzhou Wuye embarked on the journey to Seon practice, with high
aspiration to actually experience “enlightenment”. While he fully understood
and even perfected doctrinal knowledge, he ended up being indecisive with no
unshakeable conviction or whatsoever. The same can be applied to us. We have heard
and are vaguely aware of that we are originally Buddha but the next foremost
necessary step is aspiration for enlightenment and commitment to actually
experiencing it with both our body and mind not just with head.

With this sincere aspiration
for enlightenment, we can fully concentrate on investigating hwadu. Then, our
practice becomes unwavering regardless of what others say and what we hear. This
is true learning. In the process of investigating hwadu with this strong
aspiration, a coincidence like the one Seon Master Deshan encountered will come
to enlighten us.

The anecdotes teach us that
aspiration for enlightenment is not only the beginning of Seon practice but
also continuous process and everything of practice. Balshim could be aroused unexpectedly when we study sutras or read
records of Patriarchs or even when we do chores. One good way is visiting Seon
Masters or listening to Dharma talks that encourage right view to be developed.

Aspiration for enlightenment
comes in various circumstances as much as its universality. This is, in a way,
very natural because a wide range of practice methods and means are required
depending on each practitioner’s capability.

* Please note that this writing is an excerpt from the book, "Introduction to Ganhwa Seon" published by the Bureau of Dharma Propagation and it is contained in the autumn 2016 edition of the Lotus Lantern magazine under Buddhist Culture Section on page 16~22.